


She's Not Into Chicks

by badgerterritory



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel 616, X-23 (Comic), Young Avengers
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-12
Updated: 2014-04-13
Packaged: 2018-01-19 03:17:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1453444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badgerterritory/pseuds/badgerterritory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Look," Kate said, "I’m not into chicks, okay?"</p><p>Clint raised an eyebrow. “Then why is there a girl on our doorstep that says otherwise, Hawkeye?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry I'm bad at smut.
> 
> Takes place while Laura is at Avengers Academy, and at some point after the events of Young Avengers volume 2.

"Look," Kate said, "I’m not into chicks, okay?"

Clint raised an eyebrow. “Then why is there a girl on our doorstep that says otherwise, Hawkeye?”

"Because…" Kate struggled to come up with something. "I was drunk. That’s why. We all make bad decisions when we’re drunk."

"True," Hawkeye said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I made out with Captain America once while I was wasted. And Tony. Don’t know what their excuses were. Anyways, I know you better than that, Kate. You don’t get drunk."

There was a knock on the door. Kate sighed in annoyance as Clint motioned towards it, and he disappeared out the window as soon as she opened the door. On the other side was a brunette who was, admittedly, really cute, but was representative of something Kate hadn’t intended on doing. Kissing women.

She just wanted to talk to someone since Clint was away on Avengers business and America was impossible to find when she was even in same dimension and Teddy and Billy were sweet, really, but way too wrapped up in each other. The others were… well.

So she went to a bar. And it was totally on accident that it was a gay bar. She just wanted to go out and be social, maybe get hit on a little. And she did get hit on. But for some reason, it was the quiet brunette sitting next to two blondes (who were making out) that caught her attention. When the brunette saw Kate watching, she got up and walked over, eyes locked on Kate’s.

The brunette sat next to her and said, “You’re watching me.”

Kate cleared her throat. “Uh. No I wasn’t. I was, uh, watching your friends.”

The brunette glanced over at the still-kissing blondes. “We had a field trip. My classmate decided to bring her girlfriend. They asked me if I wanted to visit a bar with them.” Her eyes slid back to Kate and made her feel tingly. “You’re aroused. You want to kiss me.”

Before Kate could protest, the brunette moved in and kissed her. Kate decided to throw caution to the wind and kiss back. They made out for a while, then Kate left.

And then that brunette showed up at her door.

Apparently, she wasn’t waiting for words this time. She kissed Kate, pressed her into the wall and kissed her, put a thigh up against her crotch and  _kissed her._  All Kate could do was moan and kiss back and mumble, “I don’t even know your name.”

"Laura," was the answer, voice still steady.

"Okay. I’m Kate." With pleasantries over with, Kate went back to kissing. She ground down on Laura’s leg, moaning into the kiss. She pulled Laura into her bedroom, pulled her towards the bed, and then fell backwards on top of it. She was the one that went for the under-shirt action first, groaning when she didn’t find a bra.

Breasts were… different. She’d had sex with a grand total of two men, and touching them was very different from touching a woman. Her palm ran over Laura’s breasts and Laura melted, relaxing into the kiss with a breathy sigh. The next touch made Laura shiver and exhale again, and then Kate pulled off Laura’s shirt so she could kiss her neck, then her breast, then the nipple.

Playing with Laura’s breasts was fantastic. Kate wasn’t quite sure what to do but she figured it out quickly, loving the way the kissing and sucking and pinching made Laura move and moan, so softly.

Eventually, though, Laura flipped them over and literally tore Kate’s shirt open, and nearly gave her a heart attack when a claw came out of her fist. She gasped when the dull side touched her skin, shockingly cold. Laura smiled, just barely noticeable. The claw moved up and down Kate’s skin, then abruptly moved back up and sliced her bra open. Kate grumbled, “That was one of my favorite bras, you jerk.” Laura responded by retracting the claw and leaning down to kiss Kate’s breast.

At first she just mirrored what Kate did to her, but soon she found what made Kate moan, and suddenly there was a hand in her pants, outside her panties, making her arch with the sudden contact against her clit.

Laura nuzzled her breast, looking up into Kate’s eyes as she slowly moved her hand, forcing Kate to move her hips to try and get some friction going. Laura stopped that with a soft, “Don’t move,” and a piercing look. Kate forced her hips to stay still as Laura applied pressure with her palm, then with a thumb, first over her panties and then under. Then there was a break and Kate didn’t even think, just helped Laura take off her pants before she cut them off. A single finger slid into Kate, making her clench  _everything_  in an attempt to keep from lifting off the bed. A low moan escaped her lips, and it was swallowed up by Laura’s kiss.

Another finger, and a firm thumb against her clit, made Kate think that having an orgasm was a really, really good idea. She gasped, “Please. I need—”

She didn’t get to specify what she needed, of course, because Laura moved down and started to fuck Kate with emphasis, and Kate was about to start begging when Laura’s lips found Kate’s clit and she came, groaning “Oh, God, Laura,” arching off the bed as Laura continued moving her fingers, drawing it out—

When Kate caught her breath, she looked down to see Laura looking up at her, smiling, head resting on Kate’s thigh. “I’m not into chicks,” she said. “But I figure, after that amazing orgasm you just gave me, I owe you.”

Laura’s jeans weren’t as tight as Kate’s, so they weren’t as difficult to get off. Kate didn’t waste any time with the underwear, either, pulling it down, running her hands up Laura’s gorgeous, strong legs after throwing the garment aside. She didn’t know what to do so she started off stroking Laura with her fingers, then congratulated herself on having short nails as she started putting fingers in.

Kate stopped when Laura let out a theatrical moan, and Laura looked down at her, brows meeting in confusion. “Why are you stopping? Please continue.”

Kate bit her lip. “Okay. Just… why did you fake-moan like that? I know that fake-moan. I’ve done it before.”

Laura tilted her head, and her hair fell into her eyes. “I thought that’s what people liked.”

Kate chuckled. “That’s what men like. You don’t have to do that here. Just make whatever noises you want, Laura.”

Laura nodded, and Kate went back to fingering her. Laura made small, breathy noises and moved her hips, and occasionally when Kate curled her fingers she let out a soft moan that made Kate want to never stop fucking her.

But all good things had to end, and Kate brought Laura to the best orgasm she possibly could. When it was over, she rested her head on Laura’s thigh and basked for a few minutes, until the reality of the situation hit her.

She grabbed her underwear, pants, and shirt, and said, “I’m just gonna, like, wash my makeup off, it’s probably a mess, maybe take a shower…” Once in the bathroom, she did wash her makeup off, and started the shower, but she put on her underwear and her shirt before escaping out the window. It wasn’t very difficult to get to the fire escape from there, and halfway down Kate actually remembered to put on her pants.

* * *

America was reclining on her sofa when Kate entered the apartment. A moment later, she was doubled over laughing as Kate tapped her foot against the floor.

Finally, America stopped laughing and looked Kate over. “So,” she said. “You had amazing sex with some chick you didn’t even know until yesterday. Then you left through the bathroom window and didn’t even grab your shoes?” Her eyes stopped at Kate’s breasts. “Thank God you didn’t have time for a bra.”

"Shut up," Kate said. "Help me."

America shrugged. “What’s in it for me?”

"What better things do you have planned?"

America pursed her lips and then shrugged. “Fair point. Come on, let’s take a walk. I’ll give you some tips on how to treat a lady.” America bumped into Kate, nearly knocking her over, on the way to her jacket. “Take a pair of my shoes. And tip one, Princess, is don’t leave through the bathroom window when you’ve got a naked woman in your bed.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon adjusted to fit my needs. Not entirely satisfied with it, but here it is.

It started off relatively inconspicuous. Kate was helping Clint clear out an AIM cell that was using innocents as test subjects, turning them into weird half-dinosaur things, when she noticed that there was suddenly a lot less of them. Afterwards, she noted that a lot of them were cut open. Clint just shrugged and said they must have a mystery helper, but Kate thought about cute Laura and that claw that cut apart one of her best bras.

Over the following two weeks, though, it got decidedly less subtle. Kate would be caught in a fight, she would maybe catch a glimpse of Laura, and then she'd be gone. Things reached their peak when Kate was taking a walk with America, and they were attacked by a robot dragon. Kate didn’t have her bow but America was ready to beat the ever-loving crap out of it. Before America could even launch herself at the dragon, a blur came out of nowhere. A figure Kate belatedly recognized as Laura jumped onto the dragon’s head, two claws coming out of each hand. She plunged her claws into its head. It shook her off, but she hooked one of her foot-claws into its neck and swung herself, cutting at its neck until it was torn open and the dragon wasn’t moving. She glanced once at Kate and then ran.

"Well," America said, approaching the dragon and giving it a kick for good measure. "Did you eat her out? Never eat her out if you want to keep it a one-night stand, Princess."

"Uh," Kate said, scratching her head. "I don’t think that’s right, Miss America."

America shrugged. “Which one of us has experience here? You’re a baby bi and I’ve been dating girls forever. You’re going to have to do something about her sooner or later, though. Got enough of your exes hanging around.”

Kate frowned at America. “She’s not an ex. She’s someone I had sex with once. Really, really good sex.”

"And, like I said, that’s your problem." America shoved her hands in her jacket pockets. "Eat her out, she’s in love forever. Unless you want to have a cute lady in love with you following you like a lost puppy, Princess, you gotta tell her you’re through."

Later, when she was hanging out with Teddy and Billy and a pizza, she got a text from an unknown number.  _Under attack by Purifiers. Need help._  Kate figured it was a pretty obvious play, but she also figured it would be as good a chance as she’d ever get to let Laura down gently. She was not looking for a romance with her first lady-fling. She followed the address in the message…  and ducked as someone in a big cross robe shot at her. She grabbed her bow and quiver, and quickly fired two arrows before locating Laura. She had all of her claws out and was tearing a swath through her enemies, but they were shooting and  _hitting_  her, spraying her blood everywhere. ”Get in the car!” she shouted. Laura obliged, diving in through the window. Kate got the hell out of there and watched in the rear-view mirror as the bad guys got into cars and followed. “How good are you with a bow and arrow, Laura?”

Laura grabbed the bow, then examined one of the arrows. “This has an explosive head.”

"Honey, I think those cars are armored, you won’t—"

Laura abruptly leaned out of the car and fired the arrow. Kate watched in the mirror as the wheels of one of the cars exploded, and Laura said, “That car is damaged. It cannot follow us. How many explosive arrows do you have?”

"Just three," Kate said, swerving to avoid suddenly-oncoming traffic; another car full of Purifiers, bringing the total number of cars to five. "Jesus, what did you do to piss these guys off?"

"I killed their leader," Laura said. "And I’m a mutant. They do not like mutants."

"Yeah, well, they’re a bunch of assholes. Here, use this one." Kate glanced down long enough to grab a smoke-bomb arrow. "Then use my phone and call… uh… call America, yeah, she’s in my contacts as ‘the lesbian’, and if she’s out of this world, call Billy. He’s in there as, uh, Billy."

Kate focused on driving after that. She heard Laura fire two arrows, then grab Kate’s phone and say, “Yes, hello. This is Laura. We are being chased by Purifiers and I do not have enough explosive arrows to eliminate them all. We are…” Laura paused. “Find the car being chased by four armored cars. Goodbye.”

Then a moment later, “Hello. Is this Billy? My name is Laura. Kate and I need assistance. Yes, your teammate America is coming to help us. We are being chased by people who wish to kill me and commit genocide. Yes, it would be good for you to come quickly.”

Laura leaned out to fire another arrow, and when she leaned back, she was bleeding from a gaping wound in her shoulder. “It’ll heal in a moment,” she said dismissively to Kate.

America was the first to arrive, and they figured out when she arrived because a red-white-and-blue streak slammed into one of the cars chasing them, flattening the front. As the next came by her foot lashed out, putting a serious dent in it. The car spun out, and the Purifiers poured out, raising their rifles. Kate stopped her vehicle and grabbed her bow from Laura, who charged into the fray once again with her claws. More cars and vans arrived with Purifiers, all armed with high-tech rifles. Kate could hardly believe they were going to all that trouble just for one girl, but then she finally got to get a close look at Laura fighting.

There weren’t any flourishes to it. She simply killed, plunging any claw available into the nearest target, spinning and slashing with a deadly and simplistic grace.

Kate began firing arrows, and then Billy and Teddy arrived, and it was as good as over. They cleared them all, down to the last dozen who surrendered. Kate could see Laura’s desire to kill them, fists clenched and claws just barely poking out of her skin, and restrained her with an arm around her shoulders. “They surrendered,” she said quietly. “It’s over.”

"They have killed so many." One claw slid free. "They killed good people. They do not deserve to live."

"And they’re going to be punished," Kate promised. "Look! Here comes the Scarlet Witch right now! She’s an Avenger, Laura. And a mutant."

Laura’s lip curled, and then she let out an abrupt scream and plunged her claw into her leg. Then she broke away from Kate and ran to the group of Purifiers, tackling one and punching him over and over. It took America and Teddy to pull her off of him, and then she sprinted away.

The Scarlet Witch (no, Wanda, she was always telling her to call her, “Any friend of my sons can call me Wanda, dear”) landed, eyes following Laura. “Don’t mind her,” she said. “I’ve heard about her. Miss Kinney’s been through a lot.” She paused and looked around at the piles of corpses. “…More after this battle, I think.”

America shrugged. “It was all her. I was pulling my punches. If that’s all, I’m gonna get out of here. Kate, you want a lift?” Kate nodded, already deep in thought about Laura, then tossed her keys to Billy. She couldn't help her smile when America swept her off her feet. For some reason, America preferred to hold her in a way that let her cop a feel in the guise of adjusting Kate in her arms.

Not that Kate really minded. She knew America was just playing.

America wanted to take Kate to her place, but Kate ordered her to drop her off at Clint’s apartment. She went inside and collapsed on the sofa. “Hey, Hawkeye,” Clint said cheerfully.

Kate stretched. “Hey yourself, Hawkeye. Not really in a chatty mood, just had to help a… friend… fend off an entire army of religious freaks.”

Clint turned to look at Kate. She knew she had a few bruises, from when she got particularly excited with the steering wheel and the seat belt announced its displeasure, but she hadn’t gotten any major damage from the fight. He said, “Is this the same friend that got us a noise complaint a while back?”

Kate blushed. “We weren’t that loud.”

Clint smirked. “So you admit it! You two totally did it! Anyways, that chick showed up like two minutes ago and she’s in your room.” He theatrically grabbed his phone and stared at the screen. “And look at this! I suddenly have to head in on Avengers…” He paused as it buzzed. “Look at this! I actually do have to head in on Avengers business now. See you later, Hawkeye.”

"Piss off, Hawkeye," she said with a minimum of affection. She went into her bedroom, where Laura was waiting.

"You’re attracted to him." Laura’s nostrils flared. "It’s in your scent. He’s much older than you."

"Twenty years." Riding the last of her adrenaline, Kate walked over and pushed on Laura’s chest, and she fell onto the bed without a word. "I think. Probably. I know he’s older, Laura, and I’m not really attracted to him. Did you consider that maybe my scent or whatever is because I’m attracted to you? Although God knows why. It’s probably because you’re so goddamn hot."

Kate straddled Laura’s waist, and then she remembered America’s words and backed off. “Damn. I wasn’t supposed to mount you as soon as I walked through the door. That was not how it was supposed to go.”

Laura balanced herself on her elbows, looking up at Kate blankly. “How was it supposed to go?”

Kate took a deep breath and said, “You’re a sweet girl, Laura. A really sweet, and hot, girl. But… I’m not exactly looking for a girlfriend right now, okay?”

Laura sat up. “What does that mean?”

Kate bit her lip. She hated this part of the talk. “It means… you should go back home, Laura. I don’t know what you were hoping for, but I’m not going to be your girlfriend.”

Laura looked at her with a blank face for a few moments, then stood. “Okay. Goodbye.” She climbed out the window before Kate could say anything. Kate looked out and saw Laura hit the ground and walk away, stuffing her hands in her jacket.

* * *

When Laura arrived back on the Avengers Academy campus, Julie pointed at her and said to Hank Pym, “See? I told you she’d be back! She just had to get whatever out of her system.” Hank nodded and went to assist a student who was asking for help, and Julie went over to her friend. “Hey,” she said quietly. “How was New York, huh? How was that cute girl? Did you talk to her?”

Laura shrugged, hugging herself. “I was attacked by Purifiers, whom I killed. Then she told me that she didn’t want to see me. She told me to go home. So I came home.”

"Oh," Julie said. "That sucks. Me and Karolina are going out this weekend, maybe we could find you a rebound fling! Nothing cures heartbreak except time, but a hot girl should help soothe the process. Come on, what do you think?"

"I think," Laura said quietly, "the last time you asked me along on one of your nights with Karolina, I met Kate." She smiled as best she could to let Julie know she wasn’t blaming her for her own problems, and headed for her room. Laura still smelled like blood and she didn’t like it.

She spent two months putting New York out of her mind, wondering why her attempts at romance were always bad. She focused on learning and training, and took up archery as a hobby. It was peaceful, and Laura liked it.

One day she was out shooting when she heard, “Hey, hope you don’t mind if I shoot some arrows, too.” She glanced over and found Hawkeye. Not her Hawkeye, though. The other one. She shook her head and let another arrow go. Hawkeye said, “You’re really good at this. Who trained you?”

"The Facility. They wanted their assassin to be skilled." She glanced over, looking at him. Older. But strong. And an expert marksman. "You’re Kate’s friend?"

"Yeah, and as Kate’s friend, I think what she did was mean." Hawkeye pulled out two arrows. "Hey, watch this." He fired both of them simultaneously, and they struck the target a few inches apart. "If you want me to teach you how to do it…"

Laura grabbed two arrows, took her time, fired. They struck the target about five inches apart. Hawkeye whistled appreciatively. “I can see why Kate liked you. She was a damn fool to give you up.”

They practiced in silence for a while. Hawkeye was the one who said, “Look, as a professional Hawkeye, trust me when I say that Hawkeyes can be pretty dumb sometimes. You can’t wait around for her to figure out she goofed up. If she comes around someday, maybe you can figure out something then. But for now? Move on. Go out. Find a new girl, or boy, or whatever.”

"Thank you for the advice, Hawkeye," Laura said quietly. "That was my plan." Sans finding someone new. Laura didn’t actively seek companionship. It was nice, but not the most important thing in her life. Maybe if she told herself that enough, Kate would stop appearing in her thoughts altogether.

She kept up her archery practice for two weeks after seeing Hawkeye out on the training field, then gave it up for miscellaneous pursuits. She learned code-breaking and lockpicking. She didn’t have much need for either, seeing as most obstacles could simply be solved by a teammate or her claws, but they were useful as distractions and hobbies. It was another month until she overheard a conversation between Julie and Karolina as the couple was reclining on a sofa.

"Yeah," Karolina was saying, "she’s this brunette, she’s really into purple. She’s got this superhero thing going on in Los Angeles. Nico said we should just leave her alone for now since she’s just doing minor stuff in one area."

"Sounds like Hawkeye," Julie said. "Or, y’know, Hawkette. The lady one."

Laura cleared her throat softly. “She prefers Hawkeye, I believe. Her name is Kate.”

Laura could see it click on Julie’s face, but she turned away before Julie stood up. She left the building by the time she heard Julie calling out “Laura!” behind her.

She was off-campus quickly.

It didn’t take long to find Kate. Laura followed her for a while, and only stopped when she saw Kate heading into what seemed to be her home followed by a dog that sniffed the air before following her. Laura didn’t have good luck with dogs. They didn’t like her.

She wavered on the spot, torn by the desire to go and speak to her and the desire to go back to the Academy and never think about Kate again. Reason won, and she returned to the Academy. But the second part of her plan didn’t work as well. Kate filled Laura’s mind, and as soon as she was able, she went out again. Once again, she found Kate easily. She followed Kate until night fell and Laura returned to her school. At night, Laura slept uneasily with dreams of making love to Kate that made her wake up sweaty, aroused, and troubled.

She masturbated, but it didn’t really help until she closed her eyes and imagined Kate doing it. She touched herself how Kate touched her and it drove her wild. She bit her arm to hold back the noises she wanted to make, even if nobody would hear them.

When she reached orgasm, it was with a soft sigh of “Kate…” and a reinforcement of her confusion.

For the next week, Laura followed Kate whenever she could. Sometimes, when Laura was too restless to sleep herself, she would escape and watch Kate sleeping for a while. Sometimes the dog was sleeping in Kate’s bed, and sometimes it wasn’t. On the seventh day, Laura found Kate in bed with another woman. They were both naked. The dog was sleeping in a pile of blankets outside.

Laura threw herself into training the day after that. She released frustration through sparring until Tigra said she was being too aggressive and told her to sit and watch the others. Julie tried to talk to her, to ask what was wrong, but Laura just kept her eyes ahead. Finally, a few minutes before the end of class, Tigra allowed Laura to spar with Mettle. She drove him into the ground five times before he said he didn’t want to spar with her anymore.

When she was done with her classes, she quickly tracked Kate down and found her having coffee with a woman. She stayed long enough to see Kate laugh and lean in to kiss her, and went back to the Academy.

* * *

Julie bit her lip as she watched Laura. She was always acting all… Laura-like, and nobody ever really took notice of her longer than it took for a snide comment or two. But Julie actually kind of liked Laura, and she felt a sort of kinship with her. She liked to think of herself as Laura’s bisexuality mentor, even though that wasn’t even an actual thing and even if it was, Laura didn’t need any kind of mentor.

So while everyone else joked about Laura’s crankiness and general aggression, Julie worried. She knew that Laura was abandoning her schoolwork to go follow Kate around. And she knew that Laura had stopped that abruptly. Whenever she tried to talk to Laura about it, she left, didn’t even bother coming up with an excuse.

Finally she called Karolina. “I need to talk to you,” she said. “It’s about my friend Laura.”

"I’ll be over in a couple minutes. See you soon, Julie."

It took Karolina two minutes to fly over, and she did a few twirls in the sky before landing and turning the light-show off. “Hey, Julie,” she said, kissing Julie’s cheek. “Come on, there’s nobody over here.”

When they were alone, Julie quickly explained the situation to Karolina and asked her to try and get in contact with Kate and deliver a message. Karolina nodded and kissed her before flying off.

* * *

Kate was having a pretty damn good day. Her friend-with-benefits was feeling horny in the morning, so Kate was starting off the day with a fantastic bout of sex. Then she got  _two_  cases, which meant that she could probably get some good food. And, lastly, Lucky was actually behaving himself for once.

So she really should have expected it when a Japanese girl showed up with one of Laura’s friends. She glanced between them and said “Nope.” Then she shut the door in their faces.

Knock knock knock. “Look, I already used my opening spell. Karolina just has a message to deliver.”

Kate sighed and opened the door, eyes sliding between them. She figured the blonde was Karolina and looked at the other one. “So if she’s the one with a message, why are you here?”

"I tend to worry about my friends." Kate glanced down at the knife in her hand. She added, "That’s not for you."

Karolina sighed. “Nico, just… put that away. I told you, she’s not going to attack us.”

Nico glanced at Karolina. “That’s what you said about those X-Men last week.” Karolina glared at Nico. Nico sighed and the knife disappeared into her sleeve.

Kate crossed her arms over her chest. “So what’s the message, then?”

Karolina sucked in a deep breath and said, “You really need to talk to Laura.”

Kate frowned. “Laura? She lives in Los Angeles?”

"Yeah. At the Avengers Academy." Karolina laughed quietly. "Oh. You didn’t know that, did you?"

"Not exactly." Kate shrugged. "We slept together once and then she kinda… stalked me for a while. It was great, but I’m not exactly in the relationship zone right now."

Karolina nodded, and opened her mouth, but Nico grabbed her arm. “Well, that’s great and all, but we are not getting involved in any more drama than necessary. We’ve got enough drama clearing up all the supervillains in the city. Message delivered. Goodbye.”

After they left, Kate hung around at home for a while, then went to the library to look up Avengers Academy. She got the address and rode her bike over, then asked at the front desk about Laura. The lady said she’d ask someone to get Miss Kinney, just sit down in the lobby, dear. Kate knocked her heels together until Laura came in, looking furious, pulled Kate out of her chair (nearly dislocating her goddamn arm in the process) and pulled her through the hallways. Kate dug in her feet and stopped them. “Laura—damn, girl, you’re strong! But where the hell are we going?”

"To my room," Laura said, "where we can speak privately." Kate let her continue pulling her. Laura’s room had only one bed, which was probably for the best. No roommate to come interrupt them, whatever was going to happen.

Laura sat down on the bed, leaving Kate standing around like an idiot. “What do you want?”

Kate frowned. Laura hadn’t ever sounded so… angry before. She crossed her arms over her chest and said, “I don’t know. Your friend told me to talk to you.”

"Which…" Laura silenced a moment later, jaw grinding. Her fists were clenching, and Kate could see her claws poking out of her skin.

"Look," Kate said. "You’re obviously pissed at me." She sat down next to Laura. "If it’s for the way things ended…"

Laura’s eyes snapped up to Kate’s face. “You came to Los Angeles. You did not even attempt to find me. You… replaced me with another woman.”

Kate blinked. “Okay. You were following me? Never mind. Frankie is not a replacement for you, Laura, she’s a friend that I sometimes have sex with, not that that’s any of your business. Second, I didn’t know you lived in this city, okay? It’s just another reason we wouldn’t have worked out. We had sex once.”

Laura straddled Kate and kissed her. Kate pushed Laura away. “Don’t,” she said quietly. “Look, Laura, you’re really cute, but I…”

"I love you," Laura said abruptly. "I wish to go on a date with you."

Kate laughed. “It’s really not as simple as that, Laura.”

Laura stood up and crossed her arms defiantly. “Who says it isn’t? Everyone says I should be vocal with my desires. I am being vocal.”

"Okay," Kate said with a sigh. "We’ll go on a date when I get some time. We’ll see where we go from there."

* * *

The first date turned into the second date. The second into the third, fourth, fifth, and then they were dating.

It came as a surprise to most of their friends. When America asked about the myriad issues that had held her back previously Kate just shrugged and said they were taking it slow, not really making it serious. Both of them were seeing others.

It took them two years to officially declare they were dating, and five years after that they were engaged, and the first openly bisexual queer couple in the Avengers.

Three years after they married, they adopted a daughter. And they lived happily ever after.

(Of course, one day a smiling Laura said to her wife, “Didn’t you say you’re not interested in women?” and Kate threw a purple sweater at her and told her to shut up.)


End file.
